A Prayer from the Sunnah of Allah's Beloved

Allah! Improve my religious life
For that is to be my refuge;
And improve my worldly life
For I have to live it;
And prepare me for the Afterlife
To which I shall have to return;
And make this life a means to achieve
Every kind of good;
And turn death into bliss
Before any evil state supervenes
(Muhammad pbuh)

In this prayer five major things are being asked for. The prayer starts with invoking Allah- The Powerful, The Absolute, The one who answers all prayers. The prayer encompasses the basic structure that a Muslim focuses on in this life. The first part of the dua can be seen from two perspectives. For a believer the religious life is quite literally encompassing every aspect, from how he sneezes, to how he yawns and even how he participates in political affairs. The perfection of this sort of religious life is being asked for. Another way we can interpret this dua is that we are actually asking for the improvement of the spark of life we have in our attitude towards religion for example some people are totally indifferent when they pray, and the entire namaz is an automated and mechanical process, there is no life in it. By making this dua we’re asking Allah to wake us up.

Religious life is the refuge and the source of comfort. In today’s messed up world Allah is so stable, so much there and such a guaranteed source of peace.

The second part is a most beautiful dua. Just to think Allah inspired Muhammad (pbuh) to make such a dua, and then He
preserved it so the Muslim ummah could ask in the same manner. We need to ask Allah to improve our life, because we have to live this life. It’s beautiful because we’re asking Allah Himself, to do this for us.

As the dua progresses, an element of fear through awareness can be seen. If we know what we’re going to face, then only do we have the capacity to prepare for it. No matter where we stand, our final and ultimate destination is going to be the same as everyone else- right in front of Allah. Right in front of Allah, all the secrets we had uttered, all the glances we had passed, all things we had hidden in the cover of darkness will be exposed from all the dimension of past, present and future. Don’t we have reason to fear?

In the next part a chance to be spared that humiliating torment, and to make us worthy of Allah’s mercy is asked for. O Allah, make this life open to opportunities for us to do good, and gain recognition of You.

At the end of the dua an emphasis is placed on death. We ought to fear death only in this respect that our souls are not in an evil state when the time comes. We should pray to Allah that He take us in the split moment when he is well pleased with us, before we ruin that bliss.

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